Lying 'indicates good memory'

The ability to lie convincingly requires good memory skills, according to a new study.

Researchers from three universities - in North Florida, Sheffield and Sterling - set out to explore why some children are better at lying than others despite their young age, finding that the quality of their memory skills were the answer.

Some 135 six and seven-year-olds were recruited to take part in the investigation, which involved them being filmed via a hidden camera while they were participating in a trivia exercise.

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The children were given the chance to look at the answers on the back of cards during the game, but some denied that they did so.

After watching the secret recordings, the scientists discovered that the participants who sneaked a peek at the answers but lied about doing so performed significantly better in a later memory test.

The psychologists working on the study believe this result is due to the fact that keeping lies hidden involves an individual keeping track of large quantities of verbal information, allowing them to exercise their memories to a greater extent than their honest counterparts.

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This theory proved true, as those who achieved higher scores on the memory test were also better at devising and maintaining cover stories for their lies.

What's more, on the memory test, they received much better scores for their ability to remember words in comparison to images, further emphasising the link between verbal memory and lying.

Co-author of the paper Dr Elena Hoicka of the University of Sheffield commented: 'While parents are usually not too proud when their kids lie, they can at least be pleased to discover that when their children are lying well, it means their children are becoming better at thinking and have good memory skills.'

She added that with research showing adults lie in around one-fifth of their social interactions lasting ten minutes or more, 'it's interesting to know why some children are able to tell more porkies than others'.

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